Things to see in Havana

This Habana Vieja gem with its antique book market held in the shade of majestic trees is one of the city's most inviting plazas and is where the city is said to have been founded in 1519.

A small chapel, El Templete, with an interesting fresco by French artist Jean Baptiste Vermay, was built in 1828 to mark the spot. A ceiba tree, similar to the one under which the first mass in Cuba was held, faces the chapel. Every 16 November, Habaneros take a turn around the ceiba for good luck.

Also here is the Museo de la Ciudad (City Museum), in the magnificent Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, once home to the highest colonial authority in Cuba. This museum gives an overview of Havana's history and has a good gift shop - don't miss Cuba's only wooden 'cobblestone' street in front.

The oldest building in this square is the impressive Castillo de le Real Fuerza, a 16th-century colonial fortress surrounded by a moat, today housing the Museo de la Cerámica Artística.

No visit to Havana would be complete without paying homage to one of its most famous residents, Ernest Hemingway. On a stroll between Plaza de Armas and Plaza de la Catedral, consider a stop at Hotel Ambos Mundos, a stylish 1920s building (with bland rooms), where Ernest Hemingway stayed during much of the 1930s. In room 511, he began to write For Whom The Bell Tolls. Hemingway's room has been preserved pretty much as it was when he was a guest - and is now open as a museum.

But to pay true homage to the master of literary economy, do as he did and start the evening with a mojito, a delicious blend of rum and mint, in La Bodeguita del Medio, and continue with another of his favourite tipples, a daiquiri, in El Floridita.

Blazing sun, nowhere to sit, not a cold drink sold anywhere nearby: Revolution Square is probably one of the least attractive tourist spots in Havana but its place in the city's history is unquestionable. One of the biggest squares in the world, this is the place where many political rallies from Batista’s time until today have taken place and where Fidel Castro used to address Cubans.

The square is distinguished by the José Martí Memorial, a 109m-high (358ft) tower dedicated to Cuba's national hero. There’s a museum on the ground floor of the Memorial and an elevator goes to the top; the 360˚ views are spectacular. Opposite the memorial is a giant image of Che Guevara and another of Camilo Cienfuegos; surrounding the plaza are other government buildings.

Cuba’s biggest cemetery is 56 hectares (138 acres) of spectacular statuary, multi-story mausoleums, and flower-bedecked tombs of famous (and forgotten) Cubans. While visiting a cemetery isn’t for everyone, the innumerable Carrara marble sculptures – from the sacred to the whimsical – make a stop here worth it, at least for a few photos. In Cuba, the dead are buried in stone crypts with aboveground capstones and wandering among the manicured streets within the cemetery can be an eye-opening experience.

Among the graves worth a look include ‘La Milagrosa,’ who died in childbirth and was buried with her child at her feet; legend has it when she was exhumed, the infant was in her arms. Pregnant women visit the grave to make offerings in return for a healthy birth. Other notable gravesites include those of author Alejo Carpentier, actress Rita Montaner, and student activist Eduardo Chibas. Maps are sold at the entrance (CUC1).